GHEDIMIN AND ZENEIDA
Ghedimin was no longer a prince, but became, in Tobolsk, the happiest ofmen.
Five children, all sons, were born to him there, not one of whom hasbecome a prince. One is a tanner, another a furrier; but they areprosperous, and know nothing of the ancestral palace in St. Petersburg.
This, it is true, is a prosaic ending; but we may not observe silenceupon it, for it is true to history, and, moreover, no exceptional case.How many a descendant of princely families tans and works the skins ofthat ermine once worn by his ancestors!
The eldest of the three brothers Turgenieff, Michael, who presided atthat memorable "green-book" conference, was, although absent in aforeign country at the time of the insurrection, condemned to death, andhis property confiscated. The news of this sentence broke the heart ofhis younger brother Sergius. His other brother, Alexander, followed thecondemned man into exile and shared his own fortune with him.
Such hearts as these, too, the fatherland of ice can bring forth!
THE ROMANCE OF CONSTANTINE
Krizsanowski was perfectly right when he maintained that the Poles hadno reason to unite their fate with any schemes of Russian aspirantsafter freedom.
The Polish people needed no explanation of the meaning of"Constitution."
But this, too, is true--that to a Pole the wife of Constantine waswellnigh the equivalent. She was their Providence--turning evil intogood, wrath into gentleness, remitting punishments--a Providencebringing blessings in its train.
The famous _Nie pozwolim_! ("I will not have it!") had certainly neverso often swayed the wills of the kings of Poland as had the gentle "Ishould so like it" the will of the Viceroy.
And when time and opportunity were ripe, and the necessary strength hadbeen attained, the whole nation rose in its might--five months after theflight of the French king, Charles X.
One night the Polish youths broke open the gates of Belvedere andpressed, armed to a man, to the Grand Duke's bedchamber. But first theyhad to break into Johanna's room.
She started from sleep as the dagger was already pointed at her heart.
"Keep silence! Not a sound!"
"What!" she cried, "a Pole turning assassin! Infamous!" And, springingfrom the other side of her bed, she rushed into her husband's room, noteven feeling the dagger-thrust in her back. Hastily bolting thetapestried door through which she had passed, she flew to the heavilysleeping Viceroy.
"Wake! we are surprised!"
"What! Assassins?" exclaimed the Viceroy, seizing his weapons.
"Not assassins," returned his wife, proudly concealing her indignation,"but heroes of liberty! The Polish people have risen against you. Fly!"
"What! The Polish people risen? And you, a daughter of Poland, notsiding with your own people? You protecting me? Is it a miracle?"
"Husband, I love you! I will save you!"
And with these words, pressing a spring in a corner of the room, shedisclosed the secret passage by which the veteran Krizsanowski had cometo her, and of which Constantine knew nothing.
"We must be quick! These stairs lead down to the garden gate."
The tapestried door was backed with iron; the assailants could not forceit. Johanna threw a cloak about her, not mentioning her wound, andseizing her husband's hand led him hurriedly through the familiarpassage until they had reached the gate of the subterranean way underthe garden.
They were saved. But only for a brief period. From the adjacent city ofWarsaw resounded the clang of alarm-bells: the insurrection hadtriumphed.
Outside the walls of Lazienka they met with a mounted lancer. Calling tohim, the Viceroy bade him dismount and give him his horse, and,springing on to it, he lifted Johanna behind him and galloped away.
But the lancer making haste to inform the insurgents of the Viceroy'sflight, he was quickly followed.
A division of lancers reached the fugitives in the forest of Bjelograd.The double burden was too much for the horse. The leader of the troopswas Krizsanowski himself.
As they came up to her husband Johanna encircled him with her arms.
"Only through my body do you reach his!"
Krizsanowski replaced his sword in its scabbard.
"Good! So let it be! There's not a man who could injure _your_ husband!We will form Constantine's escort."
And the troop of Polish cavalry gave escort to the fugitive Viceroyuntil he had reached the encampment just assembled for manoeuvres.
An enemy protecting a fugitive!
Magnanimity is sometimes contagious, not always; but occasionally peopleare carried away by it.
It was only in camp that Constantine knew that Johanna, in saving hislife, had been wounded. It touched him to the heart. Only such deepemotion as he then experienced makes it intelligible that a RussianGrand Duke, viceroy and field-marshal, could rise to the unexampledmagnanimity of uttering in camp such words as these to the troops rangedbefore him in battle-array:
"He who is a Pole, and loves his fatherland more than he does me, maystep forth from the ranks and go free."
And, with arms and banners, he suffered every Polish regiment under hiscommand to march out, and then with his remaining Russian troopswithdrew from Poland, and, at their head, returned to Russian territory.
Could such immense magnanimity be forgiven?
Never!
Upon arrival at Minsk the Grand Duke Constantine died suddenly.
By whose hand?
No other than that of _the man with the green eyes_. Only that this timeit was not he of the Tsatir Dagh, but he of the banks of theGanges--cholera.
It was said, too, that he was buried--that his coffin had been loweredinto the vault in the Church of Peter-Paul at St. Petersburg. But thepeople would not believe it.
Tradition has it that he was taken prisoner and conveyed to "HolyIsland."
Not many years after there was a peasant rising, and it was rumored thattheir leader was Constantine. The rising was suppressed, but the leaderwas not captured; the people had hidden him too securely.
And to this day the belief is that Grand Duke Constantine is stillalive.
The fishermen of Lapland, when at nights their boats beat about offSolowetshk Monastery, often see the figure of a tall, gray-headed manwandering about the bastions. It is attended by two armed sentinels; andever and anon the spectre raises its clasped hands to heaven, as if insupplication.
Then they whisper to one another that the mysterious prisoner of HolyIsland is none other than the vanished Constantine, though forty yearshave passed since his disappearance.
* * * * *
Snow lies deep all around--so deep that no roads are visible. A gray,leaden firmament spans the horizon. All is intense silence.
But beneath the deep snow something is still growing, and the roots ofwhich will never die.
THE END
Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in theoriginal edition have been corrected.
In Chapter V, "Another was 'Szojus Spacinia'" was changed to "Anotherwas 'Szojusz Spacinia'", and "a fourth 'Szojus Blagadenstoiga'" waschanged to "a fourth 'Szojusz Blagadenztoiga'".
In Chapter VI, "faithful Ihuasko" was changed to "faithful Ihnasko", and"Count Paklem's conspiracy" was changed to "Count Pahlen's conspiracy".
In Chapter VIII, a quotation mark was removed after "before going tobed".
In Chapter IX, a quotation mark was added after "the yoke that is bowingdown its neck", and "Krizsanowski, the delegate of the Polish'Kosyniery'" was changed to "Krizsanowski, the delegate of the Polish'Kosynyery'".
In Chapter X, "Commandant Diebitsh prisoners" was changed to "CommandantDiebitsch prisoners".
In Chapter XII, a quotation mark was removed after "put a good face onit", and a quotation mark was added after "paid them twice over ininterest".
In Chapter XXIV, a question mark was changed to a period after "I canunderstand their being angry with him".
In Chapte
r XXVI, a quotation mark was added before "Relate again".
In Chapter XXVII, "Araktsejeff vied" was changed to "Araktseieff vied".
In Chapter XXVIII, "Banish Araktsejeff" was changed to "BanishAraktseieff".
In Chapter XXXI, "Helenka's husband, old Ihnasco" was changed to"Helenka's husband, old Ihnasko".
In Chapter XXXIII, a quotation mark was added after "desirable to keepthem secret".
In Chapter XXXVI, a quotation mark was added before "Just what youdirected".
In Chapter XXXVIII, "wrote the letter to Jukuskin" was changed to "wrotethe letter to Jakuskin".
In Chapter XL, a quotation mark was removed after "Who knows into whosehands they may fall?", and "the Kalevains have more reason to weep" waschanged to "the Kalevaines have more reason to weep".
In Chapter XLI, "as Jukuskin has planned" was changed to "as Jakuskinhas planned", and "plenipotentiary of the Szojusz Blagodenztoga" waschanged to "plenipotentiary of the Szojusz Blagodenztoiga".
In Chapter XLII, a quotation mark was added before "No harm to her!","their breasts literally sown with orders" was changed to "their breastsliberally sown with orders", and "with naive, unconscious expression"was changed to "with naive, unconscious expression".
In Chapter XLIII, "the _matadores_ of the _Szojusz Blagodenztoga_" waschanged to "the _matadores_ of the _Szojusz Blagodenztoiga_".
In "The Romance of Constantine", "Outside the walls of Lazienska" waschanged to "Outside the walls of Lazienka", and "off Solowesk Monastery"was changed to "off Solowetshk Monastery".
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